iPad & getting actual work done?

[Selfdestrukt]

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And so the question still remains, how does my wife take advantage of 3G in the field and upload a Pages document created on the iPad to a website?

Utilities like Splashtop or LogMeIn have turned out to be a waste of money because we can't find a way to simply wake our home machine from sleep and really do not want to run it for weeks on end using either timed sleep or no sleep, not an option...

there is a way to keep it on all the time so that you can access it -- either power control panel in windows or energy saver on mac -- you can set either to have display go to sleep and computer stay on standby so that network can access it still

buy a electricity meter like Kill-a-Watt EZ and see what your computer really draws and calaculate the cost if thats what your worried about -- it doesnt amount to much but yes it will add up i suppose but the benefit outweighs the cost imho

I use LOGMEIN for work terminals and home computers on ipad 2 ... the great thing about LOGMEIN is it is a 1 time $30 fee to use the ipad / iphone version vs gotomypc which is always a monthly thing

But i have to reiterate LOGMEIN is only a 1 time fee for ipad/iphone connecting to computers -- if you want a computer connecting to other computers then it is also a monthly fee

 

[mullman]

More importantly - video editing should not be handled solely on an iPad - no way

Frankly I have been pleasantly surprised with some of the shorts I have seen come out of the iPhone 4.
Couple that with the iPad 2+iMovie for iOS and you have a decent guerrilla/student filmmakers kit.

I for one am excited to see how this evolves over the next few years.

 

[ZilogZ80]

there is a way to keep it on all the time so that you can access it -- either power control panel in windows or energy saver on mac -- you can set either to have display go to sleep and computer stay on standby so that network can access it still

buy a electricity meter like Kill-a-Watt EZ and see what your computer really draws and calaculate the cost if thats what your worried about -- it doesnt amount to much but yes it will add up i suppose but the benefit outweighs the cost imho

There are several wake-on-lan apps available for the iPad. The one I use has an "internet mode" (although I've never used it) as well as a "local" mode. Would this not be a solution?

 

[Hawkeye411]

I don't use mine for work. However, I do sometimes carry it around at work to try to look cool LOL

 

[asleep]

I don't agree with those calling it a toy.

Great for movie watching.

Great for casual games.

Great for lying in bed.

I almost prefer the browsing experience on the iPad to that of my laptop.

Movies - my neck hurts from tilting down to watch for so long.

Infinity Blade - my left hand is sore from supporting the ipad2 gaming, as is the tip of my 3rd finger from aggressively tapping the screen.

Bed - Much prefer the size & screen of the iPhone 4 ... iPad is just too big.

Browsing - I'm finding I'm much more a mouse guy. With my laptop up on its stand, I can browse one handed and keep my head level versus craned down.


Nice device, works well ... just not sure where it fits yet.

 

[shootingrubber]

You can have multiple accounts in the one instance of Mail, but you can't have multiple instances of Mail.

So if you wanted to keep yours and your wife's emails completely separate - you can't really do that. But you can set two accounts up and have them appear in the same view.

You do not have to view the mailboxes in the unified mailbox view. You can view the email accounts separately, so you can keep the two email accounts separate.

 

[firestarter]

You do not have to view the mailboxes in the unified mailbox view. You can view the email accounts separately, so you can keep the two email accounts separate.

They're not really separate though, are they? It's essentially a view of one, the other or both. There's no privacy between the two - they're both pulled into the same instance of the same app.

Probably not a big deal for a husband and wife, but for others it might be a deal-killer.

 

[shootingrubber]

They're not really separate though, are they? It's essentially a view of one, the other or both. There's no privacy between the two - they're both pulled into the same instance of the same app.

Probably not a big deal for a husband and wife, but for others it might be a deal-killer.

Well they are separate, but you're right, there is no privacy between email accounts. If you think about it though on a Mac there is no privacy between email accounts either, only if you create a separate account.

 

[sanford]

Her entire 'office' fits into a 16g AT&T gen1 iPad.

As a software developer there is no way i could use an iPad for most of my work. But i do use it for taking note's and doing spec reviews (Notetaker HD). I also use it to remotely access a server farm using SSH, VNC and remote desktop. For me its just a fancy toy

Almost everybody can use a notebook to get work done... for a tablet it depends on how you work.

My entire "office" too fits into a 32GB wifi gen1 iPad. Would have been fine with a 16GB, but opted for the 32GB to keep more music handy (this was before you could use iTunes home sharing to stream everything from an iTunes library). Went with wifi-only and a keyboard dock rather than 3G and bluetooth keyboard, as the iPad's mobility is exceptionally convenient, but for work I'm not required to leave my desk. In fact, leaving my desk is about a guarantee I WON'T work.

I just second or third or whatever, it all depends on how you work and what you do that you call work.

 

[anthonymoody]

I've blogged about all manner of aspects of using the iPad as a primary computer, and thus getting real work done (see my signature...) so I wont rehash everything here.

Suffice to say that it's a classic 80/20 which can be sliced in several ways but more or less boils down to...80% of the people use only 20% of the capabilities of their computer.

And in the case of computers today I'd say it's along the lines of 95/5. On the whole, the iPad excels...and I mean excel, at the 5% of stuff that everyone does...web, email, reading, content consumption, light content creation (and getting heavier all the time...)

There are still some workflow issues to deal with since the file system situation is..wonky at best. But we're getting there.

If ones personal use case encompasses that of the masses more than not, then the iPad won't disappoint.

 

[JeffLebowski41]

threads like this and others make me wonder if people even do research before buying anymore. there's lots you can do on an ipad, and lots you can't. a bit of research beforehand would have let you know if it was capable of the tasks you want to perform. Seems to be a lot of people upset because it won't do [insert task here]. Instead of just buying something because it's the hot new item, do some research to see if it fits your needs.

 

[dmaul1114]

If your work requires no reading, research, or client/co worker interface then you may not find it as useful... because that's what it's best suited for. But if you do a lot of reading, attend meetings, interface with others (clients/coworkers/team members/legal/etc), do presentations, read/research/review... then it is a tool that absolutely can make your workflow more efficient. And that is EXTREMELY valuable "work".

That is true.

I've been using mine for taking notes in meetings. Type them up in the Notes app and then send them to Evernote for organizing and synching to my PCs.

I'm trying to use it to read all the scholarly research articles I have to read as a professor in Goodreader. But I'm struggling with that. The screen's a bit small to read many of the in portrait, and half page at a time in landscape is a lot of scrolling and annoying when you have portrait full-page tables you can only see half of at a time etc. Lastly, I highlight and jot a lot of notes and that's clunky vs. just writing on a printout. So I'm not sure I'll stick with that vs. just printing the PDFs out like I always have in the past. Especially for teaching as it's too hard to flip around to find passages to reference during class etc. in Goodreader vs. a print out with the places marked with post it flags.

The other parts of my work I just can't do on it. A tablet's not going to have all the database and statistical analysis packages I use for my research. I should be able to do things like writing and powerpoint on it, but none of the MS Office compatible apps get good ratings from my colleagues with iPads. Apparnently iWorks, Docstogo etc. screw up too much formatting going back and forth from them and PC MS Office programs when you have complex documents (i.e. scholarly journal articles I'm writing) that are full of tables, figures, objects like equations form MathType in Word, etc.

So you're right, it just depends on the type of work you do. A lot of mine is just stuff that will never be doable on a tablet. Some can be if we get better MS Office apps down the road.

One other thing I really need to use it for wor--even if it had MS Office--is a USB port (or accessory with one) that allows me to get files like Powerpoints on and off the iPad.

For instance, if I want to go to a conference with ONLY the iPad I need:

1) An app fully compatible with MS Powerpoint that won't screw up any formatting going back and forth. Can't have the situation where I work on the slides there and then there all messed up when I load them into Powerpoint on the PC in the conference room.

2) A way to get the slides off my iPad and onto a usb thumb drive so I can load them on the conference computer. It's often not feasible to hook up the iPad to the projector as the cable's not easily accessible, or everyone else in the session is using a laptop already hooked up and thus your interrupting things to switch to the iPad when your turn to present comes etc.


These are all easy things for Apple to add--especially the USB. Just allow the camera kit or another accessory to read usb drives and build in options to send the files to various apps and to send files from the apps to a drive when connected. MS Office compatibility is trickier as MS isn't likely to put out an iOS version of Office. But maybe someone like Open Office will make a version that's more compatible than the current options.

 

[dmaul1114]

threads like this and others make me wonder if people even do research before buying anymore. there's lots you can do on an ipad, and lots you can't. a bit of research beforehand would have let you know if it was capable of the tasks you want to perform. Seems to be a lot of people upset because it won't do [insert task here]. Instead of just buying something because it's the hot new item, do some research to see if it fits your needs.

To clarify, I'm not upset as I knew it couldn't do any of the stuff I list in my post above when I bought it. And I bought it mainly as a toy for reading the news, surfing the web on the couch etc., not a work gadget.

So I'm just listing things I'd like to see them add to make it more work useful for me. But I'm not upset it lacks those things and won't be upset if they never add them. I'm sure MS or someone else will put out a more work focused tablet down the road that has the simple things like Office, USB drive support etc. that I'd like if Apple never adds them.

So no skin off my nose. I'll use and enjoy the iPad for the personal use stuff I bought it for and stick with my laptop for work. If someone else eventually comes out with a tablet that allows me to mostly ditch my laptop for business travel, then I'll buy that and move on from the iPad. All gadgets are temporary and just meant to be used for a couple years anyway.

 

[JeffLebowski41]

certainly nothing wrong with that. there's plenty of things I'd like it to be able to do, and maybe in time it will. but the guy that bought it hoping to do x amount of things for his business...I just don't get it. he could have easily been asking these questions before buying it. sounds like he would have found that the air would have been much more suited to his needs, instead of trying to shoehorn his tasks into the ipad ecosystem.

 

[dmaul1114]

certainly nothing wrong with that. there's plenty of things I'd like it to be able to do, and maybe in time it will. but the guy that bought it hoping to do x amount of things for his business...I just don't get it. he could have easily been asking these questions before buying it. sounds like he would have found that the air would have been much more suited to his needs, instead of trying to shoehorn his tasks into the ipad ecosystem.

Agreed. People should do a lot of research on gadgets before buying.

My girlfriend has had an iPad 1 since launch, so I knew well what it could or couldn't do.

I waited a year as I wanted to see if the competitors put out something that could do more of the things I listed. But it's been a year and nothing has came any closer than the iPad so I gave up and got an iPad 2 for now.

I don't see the Android or Web OS tabs ever being much better as work devices. It's really going to take MS nailing the tablet OS they're working on, or Apple making a Mac tablet to get a tablet that's really, really good for work purposes and can come close replacing a laptop.

But there are lots of questions on whether that can be achieved. Can they get it right and not have it suck like past tablet/slate PCs? Can they add all that functionality while keeping it thin, light and with great battery life?

I hope they can as I'd much rather carry a thin, light tablet than my bulky laptop when traveling. And it's too much of a waste to by a smaller laptop that I'd only use when traveling as I prefer a full size laptop around the house since I don't have a desktop. Vs. a tablet that I'd use all the time around the house like I do my iPad.

But I'm not holding my breath on them getting it right, which is why I went ahead and got an iPad as I really wanted a tablet for personal use even if I can't personally get much use out of it as a work device. And I am really enjoying it for personal use and glad I bought it!

 

[Tsuchiya]

It's...a bit awkward using the iPad for work purposes. Just my 2 cents, but a Macbook Air (or any laptop tbh) would be better. Loved my iPad and tried to use it for work, but outside of a quick document draft or light editing, I would prefer to just use my Macbook Pro instead.

 

[ZilogZ80]

For instance, if I want to go to a conference with ONLY the iPad I need:

1) An app fully compatible with MS Powerpoint that won't screw up any formatting going back and forth. Can't have the situation where I work on the slides there and then there all messed up when I load them into Powerpoint on the PC in the conference room.

2) A way to get the slides off my iPad and onto a usb thumb drive so I can load them on the conference computer. It's often not feasible to hook up the iPad to the projector as the cable's not easily accessible, or everyone else in the session is using a laptop already hooked up and thus your interrupting things to switch to the iPad when your turn to present comes etc.

This is just thinking out loud, rather than an actual solution to your problem, but:

You are assuming that your iPad is the problem. Incorrect. It is the PC laptop running Powerpoint that is the problem. Simply replace it with a Mac Mini or MBP running Keynote. Presumably this will provide full compatibility with Keynote on the iPad? Possibly even some kind of wifi sync?
I realise that this unlikely to happen considering that most conference facilities are years behind the times in terms of technology. But if everyone starts turning up with iPads, who knows?
The point is that it is unrealistic to expect an iPad to just slot right into your current workflow. You will have to make (sometimes drastic) adaptations to how you work in order to get the most out of the iPad's capabilities.

 

[dmaul1114]

This is just thinking out loud, rather than an actual solution to your problem, but:

You are assuming that your iPad is the problem. Incorrect. It is the PC laptop running Powerpoint that is the problem. Simply replace it with a Mac Mini or MBP running Keynote. Presumably this will provide full compatibility with Keynote on the iPad? Possibly even some kind of wifi sync?
I realise that this unlikely to happen considering that most conference facilities are years behind the times in terms of technology. But if everyone starts turning up with iPads, who knows?
The point is that it is unrealistic to expect an iPad to just slot right into your current workflow. You will have to make (sometimes drastic) adaptations to how you work in order to get the most out of the iPad's capabilities.

That's not going to happen. Most conferences I attend don't even provide pcs in the rooms, its up to the presenters to have their own laptops to hook up to the provided projector. I usually don't bring one as with 3 or 4 presenters per panel there's always at least 2 or 3 laptops available.

I've never had a panel member have a Macbook so far. PCs are just more used in my field.

Where there is a conference room that has a computer provided, it's always a PC. Macs are too small a percentage of the computers out there to put them in conference rooms as the vast majority of users have thumb drives with PC versions of power point on them etc. so it's easier to go with PCs and make the Mac users deal with any compatibility issues as you minimize problems that way.

I'll never be a Mac user personally though, so that's my bias. Too much hassle as I'd be in Windows in Boot camp a ton anyway.


But yes, the iPad doesn't fit my workflow, and as I said I didn't buy it to fit my work flow. I'll stick with my PC laptop until there is some kind of PC tablet that can fit right into my work flow as I'm not willing to hassle with inconvenient work arounds etc. If there's never a tablet that fits in my workflow, that's fine. I'll stick with my laptop and my tablet will remain a consumption device/toy.

 

[PhoneI]

Ok, so it is not a toy, but it is very limited in function.

Says you. I use my iPad for task management, to view and edit my corporate database, attend Webex meeting with clients, take meeting notes, view corporate spreadsheets and presentations.

I also use it for email, ebooks, games, movies, music, and movie editing (love the iMovie app). I also now video chat with family spread across the country.

 

[dmaul1114]

Says you. I use my iPad for task management, to view and edit my corporate database, attend Webex meeting with clients, take meeting notes, view corporate spreadsheets and presentations.

I also use it for email, ebooks, games, movies, music, and movie editing (love the iMovie app). I also now video chat with family spread across the country.

I think the point is that how useful it is to you depends on what software you regularly use on you desktop at work and how many hurdles your willing to jump through to get the iPad into your work flow.

I use lots of programs that will never be on the iOS or Android platforms (statistical analysis packages, GIS software etc.) on a nearly daily basis and I'm not willing to deal with all the incompatibility problems between MS Office and iWorks and the other apps out there currently etc.

So for me it's not very useful for my work flow--but I love it for personal use.

Others like you can fit it more easily and usefully into your work flows, and that's great.

 

[whiskeyred]

The other thing is that I am partnered with a very well known professional camera maker at the moment in developing ground breaking new software for upcoming cameras and the device of choice for this is the iPad.

any hints?

 

[X2468]

I bought an iPad 2 for Web browsing. Not work.
I bought a new Kindle for eBook reading.

Two great devices for what I use them for.

 

[dmaul1114]

I bought an iPad 2 for Web browsing. Not work.
I bought a new Kindle for eBook reading.

Two great devices for what I use them for.

Same with me. I've had a Kindle for years (have had all three model, have a Wifi K3 currently).

As I said above, I played around with the iPad 1 off and on for a year, so I knew that it personally couldn't fit my work needs. But I love my iPad 2 for web surfing, news apps, taking notes and other simple tasks.

I love my K3 for reading e-books. I don't like the iPad for that as the screen tires my eyes, it's too big and heavy to read comfortably for hours and hours like I can on my Kindle, and I like having the K3's 3 weeks or so of battery life as I can take it when traveling and not have to bring the charger.

Point being, I'm perfectly fine with limited purpose gadgets. All in one devices involve too many trade offs and hoops to jump through to do what you want vs. just getting more task specific gadgets. A laptop will always be the best option for doing work on the go. Tablets excel as internet appliances and media consumption devices. eInk readers are best for reading books for avid readers. And so on.

 

[ZilogZ80]

Point being, I'm perfectly fine with limited purpose gadgets. All in one devices involve too many trade offs and hoops to jump through to do what you want vs. just getting more task specific gadgets. A laptop will always be the best option for doing work on the go. Tablets excel as internet appliances and media consumption devices. eInk readers are best for reading books for avid readers. And so on.

I think you have hit the nail on the head here. A lot of people seem to think the iPad should be a complete laptop replacement or enable them to do everything. Whereas, as you say, it is a completely separate device in it's own right with it's own pros and cons. I use it in conjunction with my main work computer which is much more productive than me using either device on it's own.

 

[Macshroomer]

And I disagree, there is not even a sub-forum for this type of topic, so we have to go through the process of using the terrible search feature on a VBulletin based forum ( It really is bad, I own a forum that runs on it ) to get highly varied answers that sometimes give *CLEAR* examples of how to's but most often are more like, "Yep, it's great braah, I can get lots done on it...prolly depends on what you want to do with it"....pretty damn useless...

Honestly, to get the answers I have gotten on here, it has taken me no less that 10 X the amount of time that I normally have to go through to get anything concise.

Something to consider when you go saying that some of us are not doing research...

certainly nothing wrong with that. there's plenty of things I'd like it to be able to do, and maybe in time it will. but the guy that bought it hoping to do x amount of things for his business...I just don't get it. he could have easily been asking these questions before buying it. sounds like he would have found that the air would have been much more suited to his needs, instead of trying to shoehorn his tasks into the ipad ecosystem.